Turn, Turn, Turn

      It occurred to me today, which is a rather dreary, gray Monday, that it doesn't have to be.  Having made this decision, at the end my usual chores, after belting out a few verses of the Carpenters', "Rainy Days and Mondays always Get Me Down", I resolved to come up with some  resolutions (that do no involve 'belting' and 'down'.).
       Donning this new mindset with admirable resolve, I sat at my desk and began by turning the page of the calendar to the month of February.  And right before my eyes in glittering, exciting technicolor, I was faced with the vision of the most inspiring seascape I have ever experienced.  I was looking at very clear cyan blue water peopled with scurrying tropical fish and the centerpiece of what I was to learn was the Andaman Sea -  Andaman Island.
       Rising majestically from the pristine waters, an enormous, vertically trapezoidal, green moss-covered blade of earth dominates.  It could very well be a form of natural lighthouse set atop a huge undersea  mountain.  It was a vision that at once completely erased any thoughts of gray, of rainy, of sad Mondays.  Moreover, it heightened, punctuated my resolve to make changes.  Such is the power of natural beauty.  It awakens the spirit, stirs the soul.
       Propelled as I was on this lofty course, I decided that change number one would take the form of some type of follow through.  By way of example several days ago we spoke of job- seeking and of what I thought would be my guardian - a company called Thumbtack.  As that wheel of fortune turned, the guardian became one of anger rather than angel.
       Suffice it to say that (face it, we all want to catch the 11:00 news) Thumbtack presented one mislead after another.  My attempts at correcting errors went either unnoticed or ill- followed.  In the end, it was the end.  I refer of course, to the termination of our relationship, certainly not of my job seeking.  It was a 'miss-tack'.  I also spent some time talking about the indomitable spirit of our young in the face of what others might perceive as adversity.  No changes there.
       This morning I spent time catching up with emails and notifications.  Apres B-ball games on Saturday we lunched at a New York deli.  I guess that's put me in something of a Broadway mood. 

And that, in turn, led me to begin my catchup reading with friends from the theater. One of them must have been in something of a pithy mood as she shared with us a quote, to wit, "The poet sees what the philosopher thinks."

Unfamiliar with its author, I reserved comment.  I mean the guy could have been nearsighted or astigmatic.  We just don't know.

       The quote, however, put me in mind of a piercing query presented in one of the literary discussions to which I contribute.  A writer had asked, "Do you see the story through your own eyes or, like an actor, do you see it through the character's perspective?".  Putting the quote and the question together reminded me of something I had said to you, dear readers, recently.  "My 'stories' are the spate of observations regarding the activity in the world as it was spinning around me."

       I lay no claim to philosophical knowledge but can say with authority that the world has been spinning around me for lo these 60 plus years.(Had things gone in reverse, I probably would be the proud owner of quite a collection of brass rings by now.) I believe that all characters are in fact a composite of the writer's personality/ experience.  Therefore, any 'story' must be self revelatory.

      Very early on today (seems like years, doesn't it?) I mentioned my calendar art vision of the Andaman Sea and Island.  As it turns out they are located due west of Bangkok, Thailand, an area that took a few spins around me some years ago.  EN route to Hanoi with Operation Smile and plans to help with several weeks of cleft palate surgery, Bangkok had simply been a pit stop.  And what a pit it was.

       It was quite a surprise, then, to learn that so very close to this pit is what the recherche consider the 'pet' stop for leisure and fun.  (Special February deals at this very moment - five days and six nights - starting as low as $29,000.  But ya gotta hurry!) I'm afraid that's one spin I'm going to have to miss.

       So.  Poets see what philosophers think.  Beauty is probably still in the eyes of the beholder.  Stories are conglomerates of our split personalities.  And $29,000 is better spent on the transport and supplies needed by those who donate their time and talent to fixing deformed children.  I gotta tell you, though, if you still have that hankering to see Andaman and it's environs, this calendar does a sterling job.

Later, Lorane. . . .